Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lessened its stake in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 271,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,429 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.10% of Ameren worth $24,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameren by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameren by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ameren by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Ameren by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Ameren by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,110 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company's stock.

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Ameren Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE AEE traded up $1.08 on Friday, hitting $99.71. 1,797,846 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,532,608. Ameren Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.39 and a fifty-two week high of $104.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $26.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.48.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.06). Ameren had a return on equity of 10.34% and a net margin of 15.51%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Ameren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Ameren's payout ratio is presently 64.25%.

Insider Activity at Ameren

In related news, Director Craig S. Ivey sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.27, for a total value of $266,901.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,424,423.65. The trade was a 15.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chonda J. Nwamu sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.37, for a total value of $557,535.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,393,781.28. The trade was a 11.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,959 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,712 over the last three months. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Ameren from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ameren from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ameren from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ameren from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Ameren from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $104.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.70.

Ameren Company Profile

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.